Term Project Wills Life Style - Research Methodology

GROUP-PGFM : Anjali A S & Surendaran Palaniswamy

Research Purpose
A research problem is the situation that causes the researcher to feel apprehensive,
confused and ill at ease. There are many problem situations that may give rise to
research. Three sources usually contribute to problem identification. Own experience
or the experience of others may be a source of problem supply. A second source
could be scientific literature. You may read about certain findings and notice that a
certain field was not covered. This could lead to a research problem.
Research can thus be aimed at clarifying or substantiating an existing theory, at
clarifying contradictory findings, at correcting a faulty methodology, at correcting the
inadequate or unsuitable use of statistical techniques, at reconciling conflicting
opinions, or at solving existing practical problems.

Research Objective
To understand if there is a gender biased buying in Wills Lifestyle and to analyse
reasons for it.

Hypothesis
The no of men buying from Wills Lifestyle is more than that of women.

Assumption
• The product categories offered by the brand for men seems to be more satisfying
than that for women.
• Menswear are sold at reasonable price compared to that of womens wear.
• The fit problems are less in men clothing compared to that of women.

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Scope/Boundary of Research
The scope of the research is to evaluate customer satisfaction on products offered by
the brand and to suggest various methods which could enhance the same. The
boundary of the study is limited to Wills Life Style Store at Brigade road, Bangalore.
Survey methods taken are in response of customers. Response may be incomplete or
biased.

Benefit vs Cost
Strong market research can provide a range of information about customers,
industry and competitors. For a new company the research will help to determine
how feasible a business idea is. As the business expands, research can help to
hone the marketing program, target and differentiate your product or service, look
for new growth opportunities, etc.
In this research cost of the research process is kept low.
• This cost includes the funds requried for the process and the time.
• The result of the research process will point out the factors that enhance
menswear sales and the reason for more customer satisfaction among men.
The result will help the production and marketing department to understand
and improve their working on other products offered by the brand.
If the cost of the research is more than the benefit derived then the process should
not be continued further, But here the benefit is more than cost so research will be
continued. Time spent on research should be well planned and organized.

Research Design
Research design can be the structure of research. It is the glue that holds all of the
elements in a research project together. The method chosen will affect the results
and conclusions the findings.
The research design adopted in this project is qualitative as objective of the project
was to understand the attributes of the product with regard to gender. To solve this
both secondary and primary data was collected.

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Source of data
Primary Data will be collected through questionnaires and direct interactions with
store manager at wills lifestyle-Brigade road, Bangalore.Questionnaires are prepared
using questions that satisfy the requirements of the research problem and
hypothesis.

Secondary Data will be collected from following :

• Official website - The official website of Wills Lifestyle will be used to get the
information regarding the brand profile and product portfolio.
• Annual report - The company’s annual report will be used to analyze the financial
statements.
• Financial Chronicle - dated 29/04/2010 has a press report on online sales growing
rapidly. The data will be used to learn the effective way by which brand engage
with their target audience, create buzz and trigger store visits and purchases.
• Research Methods (by Ram Ahuja) - The text book will be used as a guideline for
the research process.
• Newsroom at www.itcportal.com
• Articles from web

Research Approach
The research method adopted is Exploratory and Descriptive.
• Exploratory Research- is a qualitative method of analysing the problem as it points
out relevant variables that needs to be considered during the research. It gives
easy access to customers mind thus gives more clarity to research.
• Descriptive Research: To provide an accurate snapshot of some aspect of
marketing. It helps in defining or describing the actual problem. Survey will be the
method of primary data collection. Survey includes questionnaire and semi-
structured personal interview with the store manager. Survey method has been
opted for data collection as it is cheap and reliable.

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Sampling Description
Population
The population is the total units of the research. For this research the population will
be all the people who are customers of all the Wills Life Style.

Sample
It is the subset of population and possesses all the characteristics of the population.
The sample will be all the walk-ins of wills lifestyle store in Brigade Road.

Sampling frame
It is the Area of coverage of the research. Here the sampling frame is Brigade road,
Bengaluru.

Sampling Elements
Sampling elements determined for the research are individual and households
visiting Wills lifestyle store in Brigade road, Bengaluru.

Sampling Procedure
The Procedure of sampling is Probability sampling as the research involves every
member of the sample.

Sampling Method
Sampling method employed is Simple random sampling method. This is done as the
sample to be researched on can be random and handpicked.

Budget and Time constraints

Cost considerations, from the practical point of view have a major impact upon
decisions relating to not only the size of the sample but also to the type of the
sample. The questionnaires are to be sent to customers who shop in wills lifestyle
and are aware of the brand and its products. Time spent on research is well planned

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and organized. The time required to complete the total research process is 30 to 40
days.

Errors
There is a possibility of errors occurring through the process of research. These
errors can be of two divisions, Sampling errors and Non-sampling errors.

Sampling Errors
Sampling errors are errors that occur in the process of selection of sampling. The
possible sampling errors that can occur in the research are listed below. The sample
size may not be enough to come up with a non-biased research data.

Non-sampling errors
The possibility of having Non-sampling error is when an error occurs without any
relation to the sample size or selection.

Design Error
Design errors can happen in the way in which the research is designed. This may be
due to a selection of different approach in the research.

Administering Error
This kind of error occurs at the time of preparing the questionnaire. The respondents
may not be aware of certain aspects of the brand hence reducing the efficiency of
data collected.

Response Error
Response errors occur when the respondent’s answer to the questions are
inaccurate. In this case the respondent can interpret the question wrongly.

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Non-response error
Non-response errors occur when the respondent does not respond well to the
proposed questions. In this case there is a possibility of respondents not responding
to certain questions. This may lead to in efficiency of the research.